Robin May Guitar

At a glance…

• All ages & any ability - all welcome
• Electric or acoustic; all contemporary genres / styles
• Professional musician, qualified teacher and life coach
• £17 per 30min, £24 per 45 minute, or £30 per hour
• For face-to-face guitar lessons (in Arnside) click here
• Gift vouchers available

Why would I choose you?

Some folks are 'sharers'; they like to pass-on stuff they've learned. Their eyes light-up when they talk about their interests and passions. If they help someone to realise, or learn something; to see a new perspective or improve a skill ~ that may well make their day.

I'm one of those people. Nothing fuels me more than when students gain fresh insight and they discover, or re-discover, their passion for playing guitar.

I've been informally educating for as long as I can remember; I've welcomed showing people how to play guitar since I could strum one myself!

I've realised a lot of things about learning and teaching; and people; in that time. One of my most significant realisations, in my journey as a life-long learner, is that my knowledge; everything I know; I created. Lots of 'teachers' have tried to force knowledge from their heads into mine ~ mostly when I was at school ~ but that never really worked for me. I don't think that works for many of us.

I'm not a great believer in fixed, systematic approaches to learning an instrument. My approach is to adapt to what works for you, and I come with a clean slate; no expectations and no judgements.

Maybe we'll work on learning other peoples songs, maybe we'll work upon you writing your own. Maybe we'll focus upon strumming, or picking, or maybe you want to play lead guitar without even playing a chord. It's likely whatever we focus upon will change and develop over time. Maybe you're pretty good but feel stuck in a rut...The point is that I won't be telling you what we're going to do ~ we will discover what you most enjoy and find rewarding, and focus upon that.

I'm fishing for your motivation, and when we find it I'll be doing my utmost to feed and fuel it! That will inform the route we take in our journey together....My focus is upon what you want - not what I want to give you.

Neither do I have much time for the concept of 'talent'. I've never met anyone who can play well because they're talented...on the other hand, I have met talented people who can't play very well! The reason I'm a very competent guitarist is because I've spent over 30,000 hours playing guitar...not because of how 'talented' I may or may not be.

Don't waste time trying to decide whether you're talented and please, please - do not think that you can't learn to play guitar because you're not 'talented' enough!

If you practice, frequently and regularly, in an informed and focused way;
~ you will become a guitar player. Simples.

I hope you choose me as someone to help guide you.


How does it work?

Online guitar tuition provides the one-to-one guidance and facilitation that video lessons cannot deliver, whilst enabling you to learn within the comfort of your own home. Wherever you are in the world you can access guitar tuition with me - a working musician with over 30yrs experience - You will require the following:

• A broadband Internet connection
• A suitable PC / laptop / tablet c/w web cam
• A PayPal account (to make payments) or online banking (direct transfers)

That said ~ I have had successful sessions with students who are only using their phones!

Face-to-face guitar tuition is also available for those who are local to the Cumbria and Lancashire areas. See here for full details.

It all seems very technical!

If you're computer-savvy then there are all sorts of useful tools that we can use to enhance how we work together; sharing screens and documents, exchanging audio and video files etc. Lessons can easily be recorded.

However, I also teach many people who have very little technical knowledge or ability. The software I use is free-to-you, requires no installation and is very easy to use. We simply exchange email addresses or contact I.D.s and I'll call you at an agreed time. Easy as ABC :)

 

Testimonials:

"I have found Robin to be a very engaging and enthusiastic instructor who has a very practical and fun approach to teaching guitar which you would expect from a performing musician. This is supported by a sound understanding of music theory and his published material written specifically around the guitar is very informative and extremely well presented. Any initial reservations I had about using Skype as a medium for conducting guitar lessons were quickly dismissed and I have found the experience with Robin to be very positive. I would recommend to anyone thinking of taking guitar lessons to give it a go." ~ Mark (Qatar)